Dinner At Babylon
by meonlyred
Summary: A KAAS submission. Kaidan and Shepard secretly meet for dinner after the end of ME2. What could go wrong?


Submission for the KAAS: Kaidan Prompt Project. Kaidan and Shepard want to have the perfect dinner together. Setting: Can be anytime in the Mass Effect timeline. Limit: They plot and plan around the crew. Do they succeed? Well that's up to you. This was one of the most quickest shorts I've ever written, I hope there isn't to many spelling and grammar errors.

* * *

Shepard rummaged through her dresser drawer looking for something to wear. She had not realized how limited her wardrobe was until now. Most of her clothes had Cerberus logos plastered somewhere on them. That would not go over well. Reaching the bottom of the drawer she spied a flash of black leather. Fishing the dress out of the draw she held it aloft.

"Damn." She cursed. "I almost forgot I had this."

It was the dress Kasumi had given her for the heist to steal back Keiji's graybox. Even Shepard had to admit it did look good on her. Now all she had to do was get off the Normandy without anyone knowing what she was up to. Next she would need to get changed but she already had a plan for that already. Stuffing the dress with a pair of heels into a small pack she made her way to the Normandy's air lock.

She got half way through the CIC when she heard her name being called. She turned to see Garrus hurrying up to her. "Shepard, you heading out on the Citadel? Mind if I tag along?"

It was a simple request and one she would have normally grated. "I was just going to do some…" She hesitated trying to think of something Garrus would not be interested in, "shopping."

"Great, I've been meaning to check out some of the new mods that just came out." He said.

_Crap,_ she thought. "No, no, not that kind of shopping." She could not believe she was about to say this to Garrus of all people. "I need, lady supplies."

Garrus looked confused for a moment then it dawn on him. "Oh, I…err…yes…better go alone then."

Rubbing her forehead she hastily headed to the airlock. _Mature, Shepard, really mature, _she told herself.

"Going out alone this time?" Joker's voice almost made her jump.

She looked up to see the pilot swiveled around to see her. "Yeah, running some errands. I should go."

He gave her a confused look as she darted out the airlock. Why were people so interested in where she was going suddenly?

* * *

Shepard headed to the nearest public bathhouse. There was several, especially in the wards. With the cost of living on the Citadel, some people could not afford to have a fully equipped apartment. She had her own private bathroom on the Normandy but the crew would probably suspect something if she headed out of the Normandy wearing a little black dress.

Paying the asari at the front desk, she headed straight for the lockers. Shoving her causals into the rented locker she changed quickly and headed out, ignoring the odd look from the asari.

"Don't ask." She murmured.

A short cab ride later and she was standing in front of Babylon, it was one of the newest, hottest human owned restaurants on the wards, serving gourmet Middle Eastern food. Its decor was made to look like the fabled hanging gardens of Babylon. The restaurant was made up of several levels, each overlooking the other. Bright colorful planted hung over the edge of each level.

Shepard let out a low whistle as she looked up. _Nice, very nice_.

"Good evening, ma'am. Do you have a reservation?" Politely asked the young human hostess.

_Reservation? Kaidan really pulled out all the stops on this one._ She thought, then nodded to the young woman. "Yeah, it should be under Alenko."

She took a moment to check her listed then nodded and smiled. "Yes, ma'am. This way please."

The hostess led her to one of the upper levels by way of a glass elevator. Following the hostess, Shepard paused for a moment when she seen him. It had been months since she had last seen Kaidan in person. They had managed to send a few letters back and forth, trying to figure out where they now stood with each other. They both had agreed they just really needed to meet in person, to talk face to face.

Kaidan had not seen her come off the elevator. His head was turn admiring the view of the wards arms outside the floor to ceiling window, his chin resting on his knuckles. He was dressed in sleek black pants with a rich blue dress shirt. A bottle of red wine and two full glasses sat in front of him.

They were almost to the table before he even noticed her. He glanced at them for a moment then started to turn back to the window when his head snapped back in her direction, his eyes round and his jaw dropped. Stumbling to his feet he pulled out the opposite chair for her.

Shepard nodded to the hostess thanking her, while Kaidan somehow managed to find his sit again, the whole time staring at Shepard. The dress seemed to be a good wardrobe choice.

They sat in silence for a moment while Shepard tried to find a way to start the conversation.

It was Kaidan how made the obvious first choice of pleasant banter. "Nice dress."

At least it was better then, 'It's been too long, how have you been?'

Shepard smiled and nodded. "Yeah it was a gift."

A shadow of dark jealously crossed over Kaidan's face before Shepard realized her mistake. What was wrong with her? It seemed like anymore anything she said to him went terribly wrong.

Shaking her head she tried to explain. "No, not like that. I was on a undercover mission. I was posing as a merc leader named Allison Gunn…"

Kaidan held up his hand to stop her, the humor slowly returning to his face. "Wait, Allison Gunn?"

Shepard nodded. Kaidan chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair.

"What?" Shepard pressed.

"Do you remember Private Fredricks?" Kaidan asked amused.

Shepard nodded again. "Yeah, young marine, wanted to see the consort, kind of jumpy."

"Right," Kaidan said, "He has been promoted and they sent him out to investigate this new talented merc band lead by an enigmatic Allison Gunn. Are you telling me you're Allison Gunn?"

Shepard gave a short laugh and shrugged. "Kind of, there really isn't an Allison Gunn. We just made her up for the mission."

With a smile Kaidan raised his wine glass. "To Alliance intelligence."

Shepard did the same, "May they someday find the forest through the trees."

Taking a sip of the dark red wine, Kaidan asked. "So, what happened on the mission?"

Shepard sat her glass down. "A crewmember of mine had an old partner who had a graybox that had some in sensitive data in it, along with personal memories of her and him together. We needed to get the data back and destroy it so it won't fall into the wrong hands. We managed to get the data and escape after having to fight our way through several dozen mercs, mechs, and a gunship."

Kaidan listen and nodded, not once batting an eye at what she was telling him. It was Shepard after all, he knew there was no such thing as a quick, easy mission with her. "So did you destroy the data?"

Shepard bowed her head and ran her fingertip along the edge of the wine glass. "No, I told her to keep the graybox and her memories of the time they had spent together. When memories are all you have left of someone they are more precious than gold and worth any risk to keep."

Kaidan's hand closing around hers made her jump. She glanced up to see Kaidan staring at her with solemn intensity. Then the corners of his mouth tugged into a sad smile. "But sometimes those memories need to be put aside so new, happier ones can be made." He whispered.

A lump gathered in the back of her throat and she swallowed hard to force it back down. She nodded quickly and squeezed his hand.

The rest of their dinner was much less intense, they ordered their dinners, and chatted over the delicious food. It was easier for her to fall back into the same friendly conversations they use to share so long ago. Even if they had they had not been lovers, she could have easily seen them as lifelong friends.

Finishing their meals and after a small argument on who was paying for the meal they exited the restaurant. Walking through the wards, Shepard's armed linked in Kaidan's they continued their conversation.

Without realizing it they had made their way to the viewing platform near Flux. It was the same spot where over two years ago Kaidan had a charming slip of the tongue in front of Shepard and Ashley about him not understanding why aliens wouldn't like her. Recognizing the spot Shepard leaned heavy against the rails.

"Big place." She winked back at him.

With a laugh Kaidan reached out, one hand went to the side of her jaw and the other sliding around her waist as he pulled her close.

"Kaidan." She whispered as he lowered his mouth to hers.

The moment before his lips captured hers, he was pulled away roughly.

A large angry korgan gripped his shoulder. "Just a minute human." Grunt growled. "No one touches Shepard like that.

"Grunt!" Shepard exclaimed surprised and irritated. Stepping between them she put one hand on Grunt's chest to hold him back. "He had permission! What the hell are you doing here?"

Grunt thumbed at the turian behind him. "The turian was afraid you were in trouble."

Garrus looked absolutely humiliated. "I thought you were being blackmailed or something. I could tell you were lying. I didn't realize…"

Shepard sighed, he did have good intentions. "It's alright. I'm fine."

Grunt continued to eye Kaidan.

"What?" Kaidan finally snapped at him.

Finally Grunt gave a loud, short laugh. "I get it! She was meeting with a breeder. Couldn't you have found a bigger male, Battlemaster?"

"Oh, dear God." Shepard said burying her face in her hands and Kaidan looked like he swallowed a toad.


End file.
